Here is the top trending news from the world of technology. News that every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
Google’s Chatbot Gemini has now got a brand-new voice
Many people may not be aware but Google’s AI chatbot has a voice feature though this feature is currently in testing phase and available only for limited Android users. The current voice offering constitutes of only male voice. However, according to 9 to 5 Google, Google has just updated Gemini with a brand-new female voice. But users currently cannot switch between the old (male voice) and new voice (female voice). This new voice could serve as a strong hint that Google might add wider variety of vocal options, similar to Google Assistant’s color-coded voices. Gemini’s competitor ChatGPT already offers voice assistant feature, allowing its users to converse with OpenAI’s chatbot back and forth and in real time.
2)
Samsung is transitioning to Google Messages in US
Samsung is switching to Google Messages as the default messaging app in the US. The means that Samsung’s latest offering Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 models in the US will not incorporate the Samsung message app at all. The South Korean electronic giant has been gradually phasing out its first party messaging app. This switch officially began in 2021 with Galaxy S21 series in Europe featured Google Messages as its default app. This move aligns with Google’s push to endorse Rich Communication Services (RCS) through Google Messages. Overall, the decisive shift will help in unifying messaging experience across Samsung backed Android devices.
3)
Donald Trump makes a comeback on Twitch
Twitch announced on Friday that it is revoking its ban against former US President Donald Trump, who has been once again nominated as the Republican Party candidate for the US presidential election. Twitch said in its official statement that “there is value in hearing from presidential nominees directly.” The decision comes just days after Meta decided to relax extra scrutiny over Trump’s account. In another positive news for Trump, prominent tech leaders including Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have come in open support of the former US President. Trump was unilaterally banned by all the prominent social media platform following the unprecedented riots in Capitol Hill on January 6th, 2020.
4)
Microsoft launches its official statement on CrowdStrike outage
Nearly days after CrowdStrike’s software update caused a massive outage for millions of Windows devices across the world, Microsoft has come with its first big official statement. Microsoft said that CrowdStrike’s software update impacted nearly 8.5 million Windows devices, which is less than one percent of all the Windows machine across the world. However, the tech giant admitted that though percentage was small, its impact on businesses across the world was undeniably huge. Many have called the last week’s outage as one of the biggest outages in the history. Microsoft clarified that the incident has nothing to do with it and it was solely caused by CrowdStrike’s software update.
5)
X is exploring ways to block links in replies
X, formerly known as Twitter, is currently working on the ability to disable links in replies. This has been revealed by the Independent app researcher Nimi Owji. This feature could be part of X’s ongoing struggle to crackdown on the spread of spam and misinformation on its platform. However, this feature could also have a flip side. It can prevent users’ ability to share relevant information or links to credible sources. Clearly, X will have to so some balancing act here. However, it must be noted that this feature is still in development stage and there is no guarantee that it will indeed be launched for all users.
